Unkillable
by KnightMysterio
Summary: Akuma finds that some foes can come back to haunt you...


Unkillable

_**A Street Fighter fanfiction**_

By Jonathan "KnightMysterio" Spires

All characters copyrighted to Capcom and are used without permission for non-profit amusement reasons. Takes place before the events of Street Fighter 4.

+++_Someplace…_+++

In the darkness of the mountain range, a lone figure trained. The man was human in form, although his features were demonic, his hair sticking up in a firey mass, a longer tuft in the center bound by a simple cord. He was clad simply, in a dark black karate _gi _that was tattered at the shoulders, a rope acting as a simple belt. A string of prayer beads lay around his neck, his feet covered by a simple pair of wooden _geta _sandals. His eyes were inhuman, black with white pupils, and unholy power seemed to flow around him as he threw punches and kicks at imaginary opponents, his _chi_ aura flaring red with each movement.

Something was bothering him. Something felt off today for some reason. It wasn't in his

_Was it Ryu? _he thought. The young Japanese man, a student of his long dead brother's, had been on his mind a lot recently. _Did he finally embrace my path? I have been feeling a strong surge of chi similar to my own…_

His name was Akuma. It used to be something else, though. He had forgotten it long ago, when he embraced the path of Ashura, the Murderous Intent…

_Not Ashura, you fool. The path of Garuda. _

…Why did he think that? Where did that thought come from? He tried not to think about it too much. The name 'Garuda' had flashed through his mind many times since he had abandoned his humanity to fully embrace the path of the warrior. He had even killed his brother to prove his point.

_Or to try to silence the one voice that could make you doubt yourself._

…No. No, that wasn't right. Gouken was weak for not teaching his students the full techniques Goutetsu had given them, for sealing them away. Gouken had to die, because he was holding himself back. Weakness cannot be tolerated.

_Oh really? Then why hasn't Ryu turned to your path yet? For that matter, why haven't you managed to beat Ryu yet?_

"He is not ready, yet. But he will turn to the Satsui no Hado, the Murderous Intent. It is the only way he can be a true warrior," Akuma said. He then blinked. Why had he responded to the voice? Wasn't it just his own thoughts?

_You wish, you wannabe demon, _laughed the voice in his head.

Akuma snarled, looking around the area. "Who's there?!" he demanded, a red, demonic aura flaring around him. Above him, the night sky darkened even further as clouds began to gather, lightning rumbling ominously.

_You thought you could destroy me? You weak, pathetic fool._

"How DARE YOU!?" Akuma snarled, snapping his head back and forth as he tried to discern the location of the voice. He gathered his aura him, condensing it into a ball form and preparing to throw it the moment he spotted the source of the taunting.

_You're nothing. You're a pawn and you don't even know it._

"SHOW YOURSELF OR BE SILENT!" Akuma roared. Lightning flashed around him, Akuma checking all around himself with each flash, his aura growing more and more intense as he became angrier and angrier.

_You're nothing, Akuma. I've seen your weakness._

"ENOUGH TALK!" Akuma bellowed.

_You killed your brother to silence him. Because you knew he was right._

"COWARD!" Akuma roared, whirling about himself, "CEASE YOUR TAUNTING AND FIGHT ME!!"

_You obsess over Ryu because you need someone else to turn to your path, so you can feel justified in your actions._

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" Akuma bellowed, feeling shaken and suddenly fearful, cursing himself for his still remaining humanity.

_You kill because you need to be right. You need to feel that your path is the best._

"I kill because the weak do not deserve to live!" Akuma snarled, raising his fist angrily, "Enough of this! I grow weary of your games! Will you face me or continue to hide like the coward you are?"

_The weak do not deserve to live, eh? Then kill yourself, fool. For your reliance on the Satsui no Hado for so long has made you weak_.

"Come forth and I will show you how weak I am!!" Akuma roared. He reared back and threw a charged ball of chi at a rock formation, momentarily thinking it to be a person when a lightning flash illuminated it. The fiery purple energy struck the boulder, shattering it to gravel.

_Gouken lives, and is seeking you out. _

Akuma froze, a shiver of true fear running down his spine for the first time in years. "Impossible. Gouken is dead. DEAD. I STRUCK THE DEATHBLOW WITH MY OWN HANDS!"

_Nevertheless, he lives. And one other is alive as well…_

"WHAT?! But who…" Akuma blinked, and then his face contorted in rage. "YOU…"

A powerfully built man in a red soldier uniform appeared, a demonic grin on his face, a cape billowing about his powerful frame like a devil's wings.

"Yes," he said simply, "Me."

Akuma tried to attack. He tried to kill this man who should have been dead over two years ago. But before he could even raise his arm to throw a punch, the soldier lunged forward in a spinning dive, electric blue flames surrounding him as his fists crashed into Akuma's stomach. The soldier literally flew forward, his flaming fists grinding into Akuma's stomach as he slammed the demonic martial artist into the side of a cliff with enough force to dislodge rubble and sending it crashing down on the two of them.

The soldier sneered, and floated back up into the air, hovering in the thundering sky as if he owned it. He looked down on Akuma and laughed viciously.

"You'll never be able to kill me, Akuma. My soul is too strong to be extinguished by a weakling like you. I've seen your heart, foolish puppet of Garuda, and you will never be able to kill me," the soldier said, vanishing in a flash of purple.

Akuma glared up at the man from his prone position, half-embedded in the mountain, rocks falling all around them. He coughed up some blood, feeling his guts twisting from the attack, his skin smoldering from the soldier's hellish aura.

He was in agony. Not just from the attack, but from his opponent's words.

_What if he's right? h_e thought, _What if Gouken is alive, and what if it is my own lack of confidence in my path that leads me to focus on Ryu so much? _

He tried not to think about what the soldier meant about being a puppet. He had no idea what this 'Garuda' was or what it had to do with the path of the Satsui no Hado.

_I must seek out Ryu one last time… If I cannot defeat him, or bring myself to finish him, I will seek out a new path. I will become strong on my own merit, rather than that of the Satsui no Hado_, he thought angrily. He groaned as he pulled himself out of the mountain, feeling his stomach churn, razor sharp agony shooting through his spine. He staggered towards the nearby cave, and began to pull out the medical supplies he kept in case of emergencies. The kit was covered in dust, not having been used for a long time. Akuma cursed his weakness, wincing as he sat down in his temporary shelter, undressing to the waist to treat his wounds.

_I will seek out Gouken, if he is truly alive, and face him one more time. His path is not my own, I know that much. But I will still find my own path to ultimate strength. I will be no one's puppet._

A grim smile crossed Akuma's face.

"And as for you, Bison," he said, grimacing as the image of the soldier's face passed through his thoughts, "You will soon learn that MY spirit is not so easily extinguished as well. And when you do, we shall see how unkillable you really are."

With that, Akuma lay back and began to treat his injuries, planning his next move…


End file.
